LOST IN HIS EYES

Mixed Signals and Midnight Texts

After much deliberation, I picked up my phone and saw a text from Sean. "Hmm, so you like my body but not me?" My cheeks flushed, and I felt a wave of embarrassment. I quickly texted back, "It's not like that; it happened accidentally."

Sean replied with a playful, "Just kidding, it's fine."

I let out a small sigh of relief and responded, "Yeah, what are you up to?"

He texted back, "Just thinking about our kiss."

I hesitated for a moment, then typed, "Hmm."

He replied, "Okay, see you tomorrow at school."

I didn't respond to that. Our conversation seemed to end abruptly as he brought up the kiss. Honestly, I loved it, but I wasn't sure if I liked him the way I liked Min. Speaking of Min, I suddenly realized I hadn't thought about him in a while. Should I text him? We never text unless it's something urgent. Just as I was debating whether to reach out, my phone buzzed with a new message. It was from Min. Why would he text me? I was in shock and quickly opened it.

"Hey," Min had texted.

"Hey," I responded, trying to keep it casual.

"What are you up to?" he asked.

"I'm about to fall asleep, you?"

"Nothing, thinking about you."

My heart skipped a beat. Two boys were thinking about me—what was happening? I tried to compose myself and asked, "Why did you text me? You never text me."

"It's nothing," Min replied. "By the way, I do text you."

"No, we don't," I countered.

"Fine, are you coming to school tomorrow?" he asked.

"Yeah, of course," I replied.

"See you then," he ended the conversation.

What was that all about? I couldn't help but wonder if he was feeling jealous about Sean and perhaps had feelings for me. My mind was racing with possibilities, and I realized I was talking to myself again, analyzing every word and gesture.

The anticipation for tomorrow was building up inside me. Two boys wanted to see me, but I was particularly nervous about seeing Min. Sean was fine; we had become friends, but Min was a different story. His sudden interest was throwing me off, and I couldn't shake off the feeling of confusion and excitement.

I was running late. After spending most of the night tossing and turning, thinking about Sean and Min, I overslept. My mom's voice rang through the house, urging me to hurry up. "You're going to miss the bus!" she shouted. I scrambled to gather my things, feeling the pressure mount. The bus stop was too far to reach by cab at this hour, and I couldn't afford to be late.

Jane was already waiting for me, her phone in hand, anxiously calling to find out where I was. As I reached the stop, we sprinted together, just like always. We were perpetually late.

Finally seated on the bus, I was out of breath. Jane eyed me curiously, clearly annoyed. "Why are you late?" she demanded.

"Oh, it's just this one time," I replied, trying to catch my breath. "You're the one who's always late."

She smirked, conceding, "That's true." Then, she leaned in, her curiosity evident. "Sooo," she dragged the word out, clearly fishing for information.

"So what?" I played along, though I knew what she was getting at.

"Did he text you?" she asked, eyes wide with anticipation.

"Who?" I feigned ignorance.

"Sean!"